Was driving 2006 Honda Civic home from work and temperature gauge went to hot. Mechanic said coolant leaking from cracked engine block. Car was unusable without being repaired. Replaced entire engine because was less than replacing engine block. Old engine is available. 2 special bulletins from Honda on cracked engine block. Honda refused to pay anything.

- Moorpark, CA, USA

Car sounds like a baseball card stuck in a spoke.

- Johnstown, CO, USA

I own a 2006 Honda Civic. The engine started overheating yesterday while my son was driving it, so we had it towed to my mechanic. He told me the car has a cracked engine block. I then had it towed to the dealer. I am waiting for them to verify my mechanic's diagnosis, but searched online for this problem, and there are many 2006 Honda Civics with this same problem. My car has only 28000 miles on it, and now it has a problem that is beyond major (and sounds like some kind of recall issue).

- Gorham, ME, USA

Honda dealership informed me of a cracked engine block on a 2006 Honda LX w/manual transmission and 71,000 miles. No prior warning, engine temperature went to maximum upon initial drive to work. Drove immediately to dealership where diagnosis was made.

- Shaker Heights, OH, USA

Three times while I have been driving my car my auto tensioner has broken due to a poor design by Honda. They only cover fixing it under warrenty. When it happens I lose all functioning of my belt including power steering, alternater, and water pump. Luckily in each instance I was not doing a turn or had a steep turning comming up but I would not have been able to if there was one and it would result in a crash or the car overturning possibly. There was no warning and each of the 3 times it happened suddenly where I hear a sound and my battery light turns on. I took it to midas to repair it and in each case it happened again in a week or less. Honda knew about the issue but did not even warn me or warn midas about the part needing to be replaced until the 3rd incident.

- Wichita, KS, USA

I have a 2006 Honda Civic and the A/C went out because a rock hit the condenser. This is a product design flaw.

- Dallas , TX, USA

2006 Honda Civic engine cracked from overheating only 42000 miles. The dealer says it was from my neglect-however I followed their guide book. I can't believe that Honda would treat a loyal customer this way just to save a buck. From doing research it seems to be a common problem. Who will stand up for the consumer.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

Honda Civic 2006 purchased in the fall of 2007, attempted to use the air in the summer of 2008 and nothing. Took it back to the dealer who told me there was a pin hole in the condenser, probably caused by a small pebble, which in-turn caused all of the freon to leak out. They charged me $135 to fill it with freon only to watch it leak out again. The condenser, with the hole in it, is still on my car. Full time student who cannot afford to fix it and of coarse it is not covered by the warranty. Surprised? I was.

- Rensselaer, IN, USA

My Honda Civic died on the freeway and the result was a cracked block. I have found out since that Honda issues a tsb 08-044 on these engines for there repair shop. I have documents that I can email to you. The engines are known to be defective, but Honda waits until after the warranty expires to avoid fixing the problem. I would like to see a recall on these engines. See carcomplaints.com and crackedengines.com for more cases other than mine. Lucky for me, that when the engine died at 65 mph in the fast lane, a quick thinking chp officer pushed my vehicle out of the 70mph fast last and onto the shoulder. If this 'recall' is issued and saves one live, it is worth it.

- Stockton, CA, USA

Crack on engine block.

- Oakboro, NC, USA

Last year I had to have the catalytic converter replaced due to failure and at that time I informed the Honda dealer service technician hat the RPM's on the car were staying high even when the car was idle. The service tech said they checked the vehicle and could not replicate the issue and said they found nothing wrong with it. Now here we are 16000 miles later and I have a transmission failure. The car makes a clicking noise while in gear no other symptoms at this point. I have taken it to the dealer and they are aware of the failure, but are only willing to help me with 25% of the bill because I performed my own transmission fluid change and the warranty is up. This is the third problem I have had with the car in the three years I have had it.

- San Marino, CA, USA

I have a 2006 Honda Civic and my air conditioner stopped working. Im not sure quite when, as I didn't use my A/C all winter. At some point on a hot day in March of this year I went to turn it on and it simply did not work. I took it to South bay Honda (where I purchased the car) and was told that a pebble hit the condenser, rendering my A/C useless. (wow. Must have been some pebble)... I was told it is not covered by warranty. Estimated cost: $1214 I did some online research and found hundreds of cases of Honda vehicles with the exact same complaint about the A/C. this is an absolute design flaw!! the fragile condenser is not properly protected against debris like it should be. Did Honda, a supposedly "trustworthy" and "reputable" company, overlook the fact that road debris is unavoidable? seems that a simple protective screen would have solved the problem. This is going to continue to happen over and over again unless Honda has a recall to fix the problem... or at the very least repair the problem on cars that are still under warranty. Even if I was willing to pay for the repair, if left unprotected, the unit would be vulnerable to damage as soon as I drove away from the dealership! that is ridiculous! if a mere pebble can ruin the condenser, it should [xxx] well be protected! I want my A/C repaired - at no cost. My car is still under warranty (in fact I have an extended warranty). I would like them to repair or replace the condenser unit as well as install a protective device that should have been part of the vehicle design in the first place. The temperature is rising where I live, being in the 90's this past week. It can be torture to drive under these conditions! please help me resolve this!!!! information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- San Jose, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Honda Civic ex sedan. While driving 70 mph, the vehicle over heated. There is a crack in the engine block. The contact was able to drive safely onto the shoulder. The road conditions were not a factor. A dealer diagnosed the failure; however, the repair order is not available. The current and failure mileages were 89,253.

- San Diego, CA, USA

My 2006 Honda Civic has a cracked engine block after only 84,000 highway miles on the car. The only indication I had of a problem was when my car overheated suddenly. When I checked the coolant level, there was nothing there--despite the fact that I'd had an oil change within the past 4 weeks and all fluids had been topped off then. My mechanic then discovered that coolant was leaking from a crack in the engine block. This is a serious safety issue. The problem comes on with virtually no warning, and I was lucky that the car did not break down in the middle of the highway. My mechanic could not think of any reason for this happening other than a manufacturer's defect. I am now in the process of getting the vehicle serviced by Honda and applying for after-warranty assistance. I have read online that this has happened to numerous other 2006 Honda owners. I also found that Honda has issued a technical service bulletin (08-044) for this exact problem. If this is enough of a problem that the company has issued a bulletin to its service departments, why hasn't a recall or even an owner notification been issued?

- Frederick, MD, USA

My wife was driving to work one morning and as she was pulling into the parking lot she noticed that the temperature gauge was pegged on hot. The car was towed to our repair facility (specialists in Honda/Acura automobiles). The diagnosis was a cracked engine block which was corroborated by the local Honda dealer where we had the car towed in order for Honda to access the situation. The independent repair station that we originally took the car had looked up bulletins and found Honda tsb 08-044, that was issued 7/25/08. We talked to Honda and the repair amounts to $3,300. They have offered us to pay for the parts ($2,000) and us the labor ($1300). I have looked up this tsb on the internet and found many people (there's a posting of an '08 Civic that had the same thing happen with 7,000 miles on it). There were others at various mileages under the 60K, several over and one at 96K where that owner felt Honda should pay for it. The offer Honda made to us is unacceptable to both my wife and I and we think your organization should be made aware of the problem in case you haven't already. As far as I can find on the internet, there are many people unhappy with the way Honda has handled this issue. We have had several Honda vehicles and been very pleased with them up until now. We are awaiting a response from the escalation committee but I have my doubts as to what their response is going to be, so I decided to contact you now.

- Thousand Oaks, CA, USA

After about 50,000 driving miles, beginning in August 2008, the ima (integrated motor assist) electric assist motor in my 2006 Honda Civic hybrid has been acting erratically. Since that time, the ima battery that powers the assist motor has been unpredictable. It sometimes would fully discharge, and the car would run only on the underpowered 1.3 L gas engine. The car is very sluggish, causing safety issues when acceleration is needed in city or interstate driving. I have spoken to both dealerships in town whom both "duplicated" my issue but were unaware of how to fix it. I have stayed in contact with american Honda directly since August and today was reinforced the idea that my car has absolutely no problems whatsoever and is working within normal circumstances and my battery tests fine. I explained to him that a battery can test sporadically based on various reasons. He refused to give me any other explanation, contact information, supervisor information, etc. I am very concerned that the problem will cause an accident when acceleration is needed and the ima will not work properly. The car when unassisted properly by the electric power motor only produces sub-100 horsepower and does not properly accelerate when needed, especially in situations such a merging onto a highway or making right hand turns.

- Marana, AZ, USA

While driving engine serpentine belt tensioner bolt broke. Tensioner failed and belt locked up, causing loss of power steering and engine shut off causing a dangerous situation. Car was towed to dealership. Dealership replaced tensioner bolts.

- New Albany, IN, USA

2006 Honda Civic hybrid during hot weather the air conditioning was operated on the coldest setting, this caused the high voltage battery to loose charge.when I went to accelerate into traffic the car lost power and had trouble getting up to speed (I was almost hit by another car coming up in the lane) the car was taken into the dealer on 7/17, 8/14, 8/18, 8/27, 9/9 through 9/30/08 during which time no problems were found with the car. On 9/30/08 I took a test drive with the technician and within 5 minutes he was able to duplicate the failure. Upon returning to the dealer his manager told him not to document his findings because Honda, although aware of the problem, did not know how to fix it. Because they would not fix the problem and because I could not sell the car with this problem to someone else I traded the car in. I later found the car on the used car lot for sale.

- Laurel, MD, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Honda Civic. The contact experienced failure with the motor in her vehicle. When she started the vehicle and put on the seat belt, she noticed that the motor would pull really fast as if it would move forward. While at a stop light, the motor revved extremely fast and the vehicle jerked forward. The contact turned off the motor. On one occasion, the motor even caused the vehicle to accelerate backwards. She took the vehicle to the dealer three times, but they could not find the source of the failure. The current mileage was 20,965 and failure mileage was approximately 18,000.

- Bolivar, OH, USA

In the past you did a recall for the 2006 Honda Civic hybrid regarding a battery connector which you state may cause the motor to fail and cause a crash. At the moment I am uploading a video to you tube under user 10P6 regarding a problem which causes not only the ima motor to fail, but the regenerative braking, brakes, ABS steering, and even the airbags. Even then it can cause the lights to fail and vehicle to roll when in park. I have provided Honda (corporate and South Tacoma Honda) with videos in the past but they refuse to do anything stating the vehicle is fine. It is not! it is deadly! please investigate urgently. I am posting this on the net so people can see the dangers which Honda hides; soon I will tell them the one simple problem which may kill them.

- Chimacum, WA, USA